Paul Cherry to chair Standards Advisory Council

Paul Cherry is set for the top job at the Standards Advisory Council (SAC) of the International Accounting Standards Board, it has been revealed.

Mr Cherry will take over the role of chairman from Professor Nelson Carvalho, whose term expires at the end of this year.

Gerrit Zalm, chairman of the Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee, expressed his delight that Mr Cherry had agreed to fill the role.

"His enormous experience as a standard-setter heavily engaged in international activities, as a partner at a global accounting firm and a former regulator will be invaluable," he said.

Currently, Mr Cherry is the chairman of the Canadian Accounting Standards Board, a role which he will leave at the end of March 2009.

During his time in charge of the body, he has led Canadian efforts on the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

He will take up his new role at the SAC on January 1st 2009 and will serve for a period of three years.

Recently, the Canadian Accounting Standards Oversight Council announced that publicly accountable enterprises will have to follow IFRS by 2011.